 Turn in 3.1 and 7.2 homework  Pick up papers off bookshelf  Write down homework in agenda

Aryans Invaders Notes

 Aryans, a group of Indo-European people, came through NW mountain passes into the Indus River Valley around 1500 BCE  Left almost no archaeological record, but their sacred text, the Vedas, left an accurate picture

 Mahabharata, a great epic, reflects struggles that took place in India as Aryans moved south

 Called the Indians “dasas” (dark), who were shorter and spoke a different language  Formed the caste system, with the top three levels composing of Aryans, then the Indians

Social System Notes

Brahmins (priests) Warriors Peasants or traders Laborers Untouchables (Butchers, gravediggers, trash collectors)

India Empires Notes

 Chandragupta Maurya : gathered an army, killed Nanda king, in 321 BCE claimed the throne  Kautilya : advisor who wrote the ruler’s handbook, Arthasastra

 Asoka : Chandragupta’s grandson who claimed the throne in 269 BCE and brought Mauryan Empire to its greatest heights; kept India politically unifed

 divided into four provinces, each with a prince and local districts  Asoka was violent at first, switched to Buddhist idea of “peace to all beings”

 extensive roads, watering places and rest houses for travelers, religious toleration  Free hospitals and veterinary clinics

 Asoka died in 232 BCE  Regional princes challenged imperial government  a flood of new people fleeing from Asia, who introduced new languages and customs

 Chandra Gupta I: came to power by marrying an old royal family, took control in 320 CE  - his son, Samudra Gupta, became king in 335 CE, expanded the empire through war and conquest

 his son, Chandra Gupta II, added Mediterranean trade to empire and used peaceful means to expand, like treaties and marriage

 perfected stable village life with specific districts for merchants, irrigation, and reservoirs  expanded throughout the Indian subcontinent and spread Hindu culture

 advancements in astronomy, modern numerals, the zero, the decimal system, and the value of pi  important medical guides were compiled

 Chandra Gupta II died  a wave of Hunas invaders came into northern India  split into smaller kingdoms that were eventually overrun by Huns and other central Asian nomads